Senior Year
by yeahreally
Summary: An exploration of the relationship triangle of Harima, Yakumo, and Eri that left off at the end of the manga.
1. The Bodyguard

Senior Year: A School Rumble Fanfic

Chapter 1: The Bodyguard

Disclaimer: I do not own School Rumble. I'm just doodling in the margins.

Note: This fic is meant to take place near the end of the manga, after the events of the walking festival, but before the final reunion in the last volume and will probably contain for anyone who hasn't finished the manga.

Harima Kenji gave a loud snort and slowly rubbed his sleepy eyes. Looking around the room, he blinked in confusion. The warm smell of breakfast wafted in from the door of the bedroom. 'Where am I? Oh right... Tenma-chan's house,' he thought groggily, while images of Tenma danced through his head. He slammed his head back down against the bottom of his sleeping mat, the pain of his skull banging against the floor refocusing his mind. 'No... she's in America with Karasuma now. I have to forget about her.'

Still trying not to think about Tenma and Karasuma, he stumbled over to the bath room to brush his teeth and wash up as he thought to himself, 'Imouto-san's probably making breakfast again. She's too nice. I need to stop depending on her so much.'

He stumbled back to his room and put on a clean school uniform. He picked up his school bag from the desk and headed downstairs. He thought of the past few days that he had spent living here trying to keep himself busy with his manga. He didn't really care about going to school now. The only reason he had gone before was to be with Tenma-chan. But maybe getting out of the house would help him re-focus his thoughts. His future seemed so muddy now, with no clear goal in sight. At least it might keep him busy, too. Keep him from trying to run to America after Tenma.

As he rounded the hallway and made it into the kitchen, he saw Yakumo quickly filling three lunch boxes with rice. She looked up and smiled at Harima with warmth in her reddish-brown eyes. She bustled around the kitchen with a natural grace. Finishing with the lunch boxes, she said cheerfully, "Good morning, Harima-sempai. Please have a seat, breakfast is almost ready."

"You don't have to bother yourself for me, Imouto-san," he said gruffly.

Yakumo blushed slightly and mumbled, "Well, I was cooking for Sara and myself, too, so one more isn't any trouble..."

'I have to stop taking advantage of Imouto-san's good will. Maybe there's something I can do for her...' Harima tried to think about it as Yakumo finished up breakfast and their lunches.

He had been staying with Yakumo and Sara for a while now, but this was the first day of the new school term. Harima looked around and said "Oh... where's Sara-san?"

Yakumo sat down across the table from Harima and, blushing slightly, said, "Sara left for school already. She said she... had something she wanted to do."

Harima grunted, thinking 'She's probably trying to give me and Imouto-san some time alone together. Why does she keep misunderstanding our relationship?'

"Thanks for breakfast, Imouto-san," Harima said as he started eating. She smiled shyly at him and started eating, too. 'Imouto-san's cooking is so much better than Tenma-chan's,' Harima thought to himself then ruthless shoved that thought aside, 'I have to stop thinking about Tenma or I'll go mad!' Looking at Yakumo's smile, Harima resolved to find some way to pay her back for her kindness. 'That should help keep my mind off of... other things.'

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Tsukamoto Yakumo walked down the street next to Harima, thinking 'This is the first day of the new school term. I wonder what class each of us will be in?'

She glanced at over at Harima walking casually beside her, 'I wonder if he got held back a year if we'd be in the same class...' She shook her head and chided herself for thinking that, 'I shouldn't hope for sempai to fail just so that I can see him more. I already live in the same house as him.' She blushed furiously at the thought.

Harima looked over at her curiously and said, "What's wrong Imouto-san?"

"N... Nothing," Yakumo stammered. Trying to change the subject quickly, she said, "Are you going to be eating lunch with your friends today, sempai?"

He looked thoughtful for a moment and frowned slightly. "No, not really, I don't really have many friends in school."

That made Yakumo frown from for a moment before she continued, "You don't have any close friends, Harima-sempai?"

He laughed, "Delinquents don't make many friends. With all you've done for me, I guess you're the closest friend I have. Anyway, why did you ask?"

You're the closest friend I have.

Harima's single thought, echoing his words, flashed briefly across Yakumo's awareness before his mind faded again to silence. Yakumo almost stumbled in surprise, but managed to keep on walking next to him, blushing. 'Courage... Sara said I have to be bold,' she thought. Gathering herself, she said aloud, "Well, if you're not eating lunch with anyone maybe we could eat together..."

Harima gave her a big thumbs up. "Great idea, Imouto-san! We can go over some ideas for the manga, too!"

Yakumo had to keep herself from sighing. She loved working on the manga with him since it let them spend so much time together, but she wished he'd show some interest in her personally. She thought idly, 'I wonder if sempai will ever get over nee-san... But I can't get discouraged. He said I was his closest friend, right? One step at a time...'

"Takano-sempai wanted to have the first Tea Club meeting after classes today. If... If you want maybe you could come over," Yakumo said nervously. She fidgeted a bit and continued, "I'm sure Takano-sempai wouldn't mind if you did your drawing there while we have our meeting."

Harima grimaced, "I'm not sure if Takano-san really wants me hanging around her club. Or Itoko either. But it's not like I have anywhere better to go, and I need your help with the manga anyway. You sure she won't try to kick me out?"

Yakumo thought for a moment and replied, "I don't think it'll be a problem." She hesitated before saying, "You don't have to come though. I... I was just hoping you'd be able to help me with some grocery shopping after work."

Harima's eye's lit up and he gave her another big thumbs up. "Anything I can do to help you, Imouto-san."

Yakumo smiled at the thought of spending more time with Harima today. She idly began to make up a menu of what to cook tonight and for tomorrow's lunch, 'He likes curry right?'

YAKUMOOOOOOO!!!!!! What's she doing walking with that delinquent!

Her planning was abruptly interrupted buy the pressure of someone else's strong thoughts pushing against her consciousness. She could feel him... Hanai Haruki... She glanced around and saw Hanai looking intensely at her from inside the gates of Yagami High School and she instinctively half hid behind Harima.

----------------------------

Harima frowned, buried deep in his own thoughts as we walked next to Yakumo on the way to Yagami High. 'I never really made many friends at this school. I love Temna... loved Tenma... but I guess Tenma doesn't really count now that she's run off to be with that evil bastard Karasuma. Well, I guess I did help send her there, but... NO! Best to not think about Tenma. And really, Imouto-san is the only person in school that I hang out with at all now.'

He glanced over at her. 'I bet she thinks I'm pathetic for not having more friends. And I still haven't thought of a way to thank her for letting me freeload at place! Other than manga, my only talents seem to be fighting, riding a motorcycle, and failing tests...'

Yakumo slid behind him as if she was putting him between her and someone else, which brought Harima quickly out of his own brooding. Harmia scanned the road for any sign of danger but there weren't any other people within 5 meters of them. He frowned, "What's wrong Imouto-san?"

She looked nervously at Harima and whispered embarrasedly, "It's Hanai-sempai... "

Harima looked closely at the crowd in front of the school and saw Hanai staring tensely at Yakumo. His frown deepened, "Is that four-eyed ass-kisser bothering you?" He thought to himself, 'Does she need me to protect her from four-eyes? I didn't think he was the kind of guy to molest a helpless girl...'

Yakumo looked up at him. "He's... not really bothering me, but... I wish he wouldn't..." She frowned, "I... I don't really enjoy being near him."

"Leave it to me, Imouto-san!" Harima said firmly. "I'll kick his ass if he doesn't leave you alone." He told himself, 'This is it! Maybe my fighting skills aren't useless in helping Imouto-san if I can just chase this bastard away from her.'

As they walked together onto the school yard, Hanai practically ran up to them, fuming. "What are you doing bothering Tsukamoto-kun on her way to school?" Hanai yelled.

Yakumo shrank further behind Harima and mumbled, "It... it's not like that..."

Harima grinned evilly at Hanai. "Imouto-san wanted me to protect her from this glasses wearing stalker who'd been bothering her."

Hanai yelled at him, "Stalker? Where?! I'll protect her myself! She needs a better defender than a stupid delinquent."

Hearing those words, Harima's burned with anger hot enough to be felt by everyone within 50 feet. They all took a step back, except for Yakumo.

'Yes!', Harima thought gleefully, 'I haven't felt this alive since my last fight!'

Suou Mikoto, who and been coming up behind Hanai and had heard the conversation tried to reason with Hanai, "Maybe you should cool it a bit, Haruki..."

Hanai ignored her and immediately tried to grapple Harima, who in turn grabbed both of Hanai's hands. The two combatants stood there, locked in a viscous struggle, both desperately trying to overwhelm the other with sheer brute force.

Seeing Harima wrestling with Hanai, Yakumo said worriedly, "Please be don't get hurt just for my sake, Harima-sempai!"

Harima turned his head to grin confidently at her, saying, "Hearing that from a woman he's protecting, no real man could back down."

Hanai, on hearing Yakumo worrying about Harima, suddenly hesitated, unsure of himself. This allowed Harima to kick him squarely in the gut. Hanai dropped his hands instinctively to cradle his bruised stomach. Harima, never being one to let go of an advantage, punched Hanai as hard as he could across the face, knocking him unconscious to the ground in front of Suou's feet. Dusting off his hands he looked warily at Suou, "Not gonna try to avenge his honor, are you?"

Suou grimaced and shrugged, "I'm not going to finish up a stupid fight he started himself." She grabbed his collar and started dragging him across the ground to their classroom, though.

Turning back towards Yakumo, Harima said cheerfully, "Ready to find out which classes we're in?"

Yakumo smiled at him and nodded, "Let's go, sempai."

Harima walked with her towards where the class rolls were posted, thinking, 'Tenma may have left, and there's nothing more I can do to make her happy. But this year I can at least protect her little sister, and show Imouto-san how grateful I am for all her help. Maybe that'll be enough to keep my mind busy.'

-------------------------------

Sawachika Eri watched the fight between Harima and Hanai with disgust written plainly on her face, 'Stupid Hige... can't he even wait for the first day of classes to begin before he starts a fight?'

Her expression turned into an angry glare when she looked at Yakumo, 'Can't she just tell Hanai no herself? Why does she have to drag Hige into her problems.'

"That's because she has a hard time expressing her feelings. Also it seems the only people who can beat some sense into Hanai are Harima and Mikoto."

"Gah! Don't sneak up on me, Akira!"

Takano Akira put a hand on her friend's shoulder, "Sorry, but you were so busy staring at Harima, you didn't notice me waving at you."

"I was not staring at him!" Eri replied fervently, shaking her head in denial.

"Oh? You weren't wishing it was you Harima was getting into a fight for?"

"No, not at all!"

Akira looked at Eri slyly, and nodded to herself. Smiling ever so slightly, she replied, "Then you won't mind if Harima joins the tea club with Yakumo?"

Eri turned a bright shade of red, "That stupid Hige doesn't know the first thing about tea! You'd be better off recruiting a... a dog. At least it'd be more obedient."

Akira shook her head and replied, "I see. Well anyway, did you see what class we're in this year, hmm?"

"No, but I'm sure you already know..."

Akira nodded, and replied, "3-C... Don't worry, Harima's in the same class too."

"Like I would care."

Akira shook her head again and walked away, "Don't say I didn't try to help you."

Eri glared at Akira's back in annoyance, 'She always does that!' Eri sighed and thought, 'I shouldn't get mad at her, though. I know she means well.'

She looked back to Harima and Yakumo and saw them walking into the school building together. Shaking her head, she started walking after them, 'I have to find some way to get him away from little miss perfect.'

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Eri tried to think of ways to get closer to Harima all through the opening ceremony for the new school year, but couldn't come up with anything. 'Maybe I can try talking to him during lunch. At least Yakumo won't be around him then.'

As the lunch bell rang, Eri dug through her bag and took out her lunch. She turned towards Harima's desk and said, "Hey Harima..."

"He's already left," Akira said abruptly, "If you hurry you might be able to catch him."

"What?" Eri glanced quickly around the classroom. "Stupid Hige..."

Ignoring her lunch, she got up from her desk and left to find Harima. As she entered the hallway, she saw him walking towards the stairway that lead up to the roof of the building. She started to follow him quickly, but she stopped dead when she saw him meet someone coming up from the stairs from the lower floor.

"Ah... Imouto-san, there you are. Let's go up to the roof. We should be able to eat up there undisturbed."

"That sounds fine, Harima-sempai."

Eri pressed herself back into the doorway of another classroom. She saw the two lunch boxes that Yakumo was carrying and thought, 'Gah... trying to bribe your way into his heart through his stomach, huh? You're such a cheater.'

Once she heard them open the door to the room, Eri crept quietly up the stairs and put her ear up against the door. She could barely make out every few words they were saying.

"... too soon ... to kiss..."

"... romantic..."

"... start... rival ... better..."

'Oh, so she's not ready to kiss him, huh? Well it looks like I just have to beat her to that.'

Nodding to herself, Eri walked quietly down the stairs and headed back to eat her lunch.

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"I think it's too soon for these two characters to kiss," Harima mused.

"But I think it'd be quite romantic," Yakumo replied while picking at her lunch.

"But the heroic part is about to start. When his rival comes to challenge him. I think it would be better if she were to kiss him to re-energize his fighting spirit after he's been beaten up a bit."

"I suppose, but why can't they do both? I think the audience would feel sad if the main character only got her affection when he was being beaten up."

"Ah... you're probably right, Imouto-san. It'd be cruel to the readers if the hero and his love never had any good romantic moments together."

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Yakumo looked at the clock for the twentieth time in the last five minutes. 'Just a little bit more before time for clubs. I hope he'll be there today.'

She had sent a text message to Takano-sempai this morning making sure it'd be okay for Harima to come. So that at least wouldn't be a problem. She wondered idly, if Takano-sempai could give her any advice about Harima. She seemed to know the most surprising things. 'No, she's Sawachika-sempai's friend too. I don't think she'd want to get in the middle of this...'

The school bell rang, interrupting Yakumo's thoughts and ending the class. Yakumo quickly packed up her bag, and started to stand up.

"Oh, you're not going to leave without me, are you?" Sara Adiemus asked, smiling as she walked over to Yakumo's desk. "Or are you just nervous that he might get there before you do?"

Yakumo blushed and looked over at her friend, "Are you ready to go? I... don't want to be late."

Sara giggled, "Yup! Let's try not to keep Harima-sempai waiting too long."

The two newly promoted second year students walked together out of their classroom and over to the tea club room. As they entered the clubroom, Yakumo saw that Takano-sempai was already sitting in the room making a batch of tea. Yakumo looked around and felt a tiny needle of frustration when she saw Sawachika-sempai sitting in the room as well.

"Ah... Sara, Yakumo... I hope you don't mind but my friend Eri wanted to try some of our tea today."

Eri smiled and said, "Well, since I'm not a regular of any clubs, I thought I might see if I wanted to join your tea club this year. It's important to learn more about my Japanese Heritage after all."

Yakumo walked quietly into the clubroom and sat down at the table with Sara, thinking, 'But at this rate Harima-sempai...'

At that moment, Harima opened the door. He looked at the four girls sitting there in the room, and paused. Giving a meaningful look to Yakumo, he said, "Ah... Imouto-san, I just wanted to tell you to tell that I'll be on the roof this afternoon. Please get me when you decide to head home."

With that he turned around quickly and closed the door behind him.

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Osakabe Itoko sat drinking a small cup of green tea with Takano Akira after the tea club meeting had finished. "Well, that was quite an awkward meeting."

Akira shook her head, "Not as awkward as it should have been. I had hoped that bringing them together would lead to some break through in their situation."

Itoko raised an eyebrow at her, "It's not like you to interfere like this."

"Eri's my friend and Yakumo is my friend's sister and my junior in the club. This situation needs to be cleared up. The longer it lingers, the more hurt there will be at the end."

"And Kenji is stubborn and still too in love with Tenma to choose either of them. What will you do if he can't decide, or if he chooses neither?"

"If he chooses neither, that'll be fine. But I WILL make him choose before the year is out."

"Hmph... you're pretty stubborn yourself. Good luck, though. You'll need it."

Akira simply nodded and continued to drink her tea.

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A/N: I've actually been kicking this story around for awhile, but it's taken me a long time to finish. Maybe it's the jumping perspectives. Anyway, it'll probably take me awhile to write the next chapter.


	2. Good Intentions

Senior Year: A School Rumble Fanfic

Chapter 2: Good Intentions

By: yeahreally

Disclaimer: I do not own School Rumble. I'm just doodling in the margins.

Harima Kenji walked through the door of the Tsukamoto house carrying grocery bags in both of his hands. He struggled to make it to the kitchen without dropping them or knocking anything over.

"Are you sure I can't carry some of them, Harima-sempai?" Yakumo asked, following behind him.

"It's alright, Imouto-san. Let me take care of this for you."

Harima set the bags down on the kitchen counter, grunting. Yakumo started to unpack the bags while smiling at Harima, "Thank you."

"No problem, no problem! Let me know if there's anything else you need me to do."

Yakumo paused and thought a moment before saying, "Well... The A/C unit was making some noises yesterday. Would you mind looking at it to see if it's anything serious?"

Harima nodded firmly, "Right! Let me change into some work clothes and I'll look at it now."

He walked quickly up to his room and rummaged through his bags for an old shirt and his favorite pair of jeans. Harima quickly changed into the shirt, but as he was putting on the jeans he heard loud ripping sound. Looking down at his legs, he could see a large hole ripped into the right leg of his jeans.

Harima yelled in frustration, "Gah! My jeans!"

He heard someone run up the stairs quickly, before Yakumo poked her head into his room asking breathlessly, "Harima-sempai... Are you okay?"

Harima nodded and gestured down at his leg, saying, "Yeah, I just ripped a hole in my favorite pair of jeans."

When Yakumo's eyes wandered down to the hole in Harima's jeans, she let out a startled "Eek!" and spun around to face the other way.

Harima blinked and said quickly, "Ah... sorry, Imouto-san... I didn't mean to startle you."

Yakumo shook her head and, with her back still turn to Harima stammered, "No... It's... Umm... If you want, I might be able to fix them... your jeans, that is."

Harima nodded at Yakumo's back, and replied, "That'd be great. Let me find another pair of pants..."

Yakumo replied quickly before walking away, "Sure... I'll be downstairs."

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Takano Akira dialed her friend Suou Makoto's number into her cell phone and waited for an answer.

"Hi Akira, what's up?"

"I need to ask you a favor?"

"Oh? What do you need?"

"Can you setup a study session at your house tomorrow evening and invite Eri?"

"That seems pretty straight forward. What's the catch?"

Akira made a note to herself that Makoto was catching on to her ways, "When she gets there, I think we need to have a talk about a certain delinquent..."

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The following day...

Yakumo crawled out of the bushes on her hands and knees. She looked around just to make sure that Sara was the only one there before getting up slowly.

Brushing dirt off her school uniform, she asked, "Are you sure he's gone, Sara?"

Sara nodded while smiling at her, "Yup... I told him you wanted to go enjoy nature, so he ran off towards the park."

Yakumo sighed with relief, "Thank you, Sara. I don't know what I'd do without you."

Sara shook her head as they started walking down the street towards the Tsukamoto residence, "You know you can't keep avoiding Hanai-sempai forever."

Yakumo sighed again, "I know... He always manages to catch up to me eventually..."

"Do you really hate him that much?"

"Well, I don't hate him, but... I'd... I'd rather be with..."

"Harima-sempai?" Sara teased.

Yakumo turned beat red and nodded mutely.

"But you're the one who always reminds me that Harima-sempai is still in love with your sister."

Yakumo sighed, "He is... but I... I still want to be near him. I think he needs me."

Sara gave Yakumo a pointed look, "Then I think you should tell both Harima-sempai and Hanai-sempai how you feel."

Yakumo shook her head, "I'm not very good at that. I've tried, but the words never come out right..."

"Well... start with one then. Let's start with Hanai-sempai, since that'll probably be easier."

"I... okay," Yakumo agreed reluctantly.

Sara nodded decisively, "I'll even help you write it out if you need, but you have to sign it yourself."

They arrived at the Tsukamoto residence to find Harima sitting in the living room working on his manga manuscript.

"Ah... Sara-san, Imouto-san, welcome home."

"Ah... good evening, Harima-sempai," Sara smiled at Harima in greeting.

"Hi, Harima-sempai... how's the manuscript going?" Yakumo asked warmly.

"Ah... it's going slowly right now. I have to do redo some scenes because I'm not happy with the way they turned out," Harima replied while finishing up a drawing. He looked up and said, "So how are you two doing? Did the orphans at Sara's church behave today?"

Yakumo smiled and replied, "Oh they were fine today. Thank you for the signing those copies of your manga. They were quite popular."

Harima grinned from ear to ear, "Anything for one of my little fans. So what were you two going to do for the rest of tonight?"

Sara looked mischievously at Yakumo and said, "Oh... I was going to help Yakumo write a letter to Hanai-sempai."

"Eh? What're you writing to four-eyes for, Imouto-san?" Harima asked curiously.

Yakumo blushed furiously and stammered, "I..."

Sara cut in, "Yakumo's going to tell him once and for all that she's not interested in him, and that he should leave her alone."

Harima nodded, "I see..."

Yakumo sighed dejectedly, "I still don't know how I'm going to give it to him. He'll probably misunderstand the note, anyway..."

Harima stood up suddenly pumping his fist, "Give me your message, Imouto-san! I promise that I'll make sure he understands your feelings no matter what. Even if I have to beat the knowledge into him!"

Yakumo blinked, "Harima-senpai..."

Sara grinned, "Oh that would be perfect. Now come on, Yakumo, let's get that note written so that Harima-sempai can deliver it tomorrow."

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Sawachika Eri hugged her stuffed giraffe as she glared at her grinning friend, Suou Mikoto, seated on the bed across the room. They had been studying together in Mikoto's room with Takano Akira for the past two hours. Eventually, they got bored of homework, and their talk drifted to the topic of romance. Specifically, on Eri's engagement to the delinquent Harima Kenji.

"I still can't believe you didn't let him stay at your house. You can't blame anyone but yourself for him living with Yakumo now," Mikoto teased.

Eri replied angrily, "I can blame that scheming little hussy, Yakumo, that's who I can blame!"

Akira quietly observed her two friends bickering while sipping her cup of tea.

Mikoto laughed at Eri, "Now now, Eri, you knew how she felt about Harima. You should have known that she'd take him in if you didn't."

"But.. but... he's engaged to me! How can that idiot live with another woman? He should just be a man and get a place of his own."

Akira cut in, "One, he doesn't have the money. Two, in his mind he's only pretending to be engaged to you."

Eri growled, "That still doesn't make it right for him to cheat on me with Yakumo."

Mikoto snickered, "Oh? I thought this was just a pretend relationship. Could it be you're actually jealous of little Yakumo?"

Eri turned beat red and yelled back, "No way I'm jealous of little miss perfect! But no one takes what's mine."

Mikoto gave a knowing look to Akira before responding, "So you've confessed your love to him already, then?"

"Argh!! No! Why would I ever do that?"

Akira cut in yet again, "Because you're in love with him."

"I... I..." Eri stammered unable to come up with a reply.

Mikoto jumped in, "You should tell him before Yakumo works up the courage to confess to Harima herself."

"But... I..."

"Oh, so you'd rather let her have Harima, then?" Mikoto asked.

"No!"

Akira interjected, "Then tell him how you feel, or let go so that someone else can."

"Fine! I will!"

Akira nodded and pulled out a pair of coupons from her purse, "Good. Take him here, it'll put him in a good mood."

Eri took the coupons from Akira with a puzzled look on her face, "What? Why the zoo?"

Akira sipped her tea and replied enigmatically, "Just trust me."

The three friends continued to chat for some time before eventually calling it quits for the day. Once Eri left, Akira turned to Mikoto and said, "Thank you, for helping with that."

Mikoto laughed, "No problem. It needs to be cleared up soon anyway. I'm just surprised she agreed to it so easily."

Akira nodded briskly, "We'll see if she actually goes through with it."

Mikoto slapped her right fist into the palm of her left hand, "Maybe I should have a talk with Harima, too."

Akira shook her head, "No... He should here it from one of those two girls. One of them just needs to step forward already."

"Oh? You don't care if it's Yakumo or Eri, do you?"

Akira shrugged, "If one of them actually did it, the other likely would, too. And then Harima would have to make a choice."

Mikoto nodded, "And then this feud could end."

Akira grimaced, "Hopefully."

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Harima Kenji strode purposefully through the entrance of the dojo. Waves of menace seemed to roll off of him as he scanned through the crowd of students and instructors. Not finding his prey, he bellowed at the top of his lungs, "Hanai Haruki! Show yourself!"

Everyone in the dojo froze to stare at him in astonishment. After a moment, a middle-aged man walked through the crowd to stand before Harima. He had the steady grace and calm bearing of a master martial artist, "I am Haruki's father, and the master of this dojo. Who are you and what business do you have with my son?"

Harima studied the elder Mr. Hanai a moment before replying, "I, Harima Kenji, am gonna beat the snot of him, that's what business I have with him. He's been harassing a young lady, and as her champion, I am here to deliver his divine punishment."

At Harima's proclamation, a deadly silence covered the room. The students stood tensely waiting for the storm they could sense on the horizon. The elder Mr. Hanai turned and roared, "Haruki! What do you have to say to these accusations! Answer me!"

Hanai Haruki entered the dojo and walked quickly to stand beside his father, saying, "Lies! I love Yakumo more than anything, and want nothing more than to make her happy!"

Harima glared at him and pointed his finger accusingly at the younger Hanai, "See, he doesn't even care that she wants him to leave her alone!"

Hanai Haruki roared, "My love for Yakumo will conquer everything! I know it! She deserves a better man than a piece of trash like you!"

"WHAT!?"

Hanai's father had to sucker punch both of them to stop them from fighting it out then and there. Once he had their attention again, he asked, "Now... calm down. Harima, was it? What proof do you have that what you say is true? And what is your relationship to this Yakumo, anyway?"

Harima grimaced and tried to ignore the pain in his side from where Hanai's father had struck him. "Well... uh, you could say I'm a tenet in her house..."

"You're living with Yakumo!?" Hanai screamed in rage, launching himself at Harima only to be casually swatted down by his father.

"Behave and let him finish."

Harima grinned and continued, "I was asked to deliver this message personally by Imouto... I mean... Tsukamoto-san last night. She even wrote an accompanying letter."

Harima took a small letter out of the pocket of his leather jacket, and handed it to Hanai's father who read it out loud.

"Hanai-sempai, while I am quite flattered by the attention you have given me, I am not interested in you in that way. I cannot follow my heart while you are still chasing me. Please understand. Tsukamoto Yakumo."

Hanai's father nodded to himself, "That seems sufficient. I do remember Mikoto complaining about Haruki hopelessly chasing after some first year girl. I can see why a young girl like that would ask someone like you to deliver this message for her. But... as Haruki's father, I must insist on taking responsibility for his actions. It looks like I need to teach my son a lesson in manners."

Hanai's father stretched his arms as he prepared to give his son the beating of his life. Harima could only grin evilly as he watched on.

------------------

Tsukamoto Yakumo yawned as she stretched, waking up from a nice long nap. She looked at the clock in her living room and saw that she only had about half an hour before she should start on making dinner tonight. Getting up slowly, she idly wondered if Harima-sempai had managed to deliver her note to Hanai-sempai yet. Yakumo hoped Harima-sempai didn't have too much trouble and that he'd be home in time for dinner.

------------------

Harima looked down in pity at the bruised and beaten Hanai Haruki as he lay unconscious on the dojo floor. He squatted down next to the defeated fighter, and muttered half to Hanai, half to himself, "Man... your dad did a more thorough job of kicking your ass than I thought he would. Still... at least this will help you understand. Chasing after someone who doesn't love you will only lead to pain. Trust me, I know."

Harima jumped in surprise as his phone rang. 'Huh... looks like it's Ojou...'

"Yo, this is Harima."

"Hey... Harima... I got some coupons and... uh... did you want to go to the zoo tomorrow? With me?"

"What? You want to go to the zoo tomorrow? Sure... Tomorrow's Sunday, so that'll be fine. I still need to make my weekly visit."

"Good! See you there at noon."

"Alright, see ya there."

------------------

Eri arrived at the zoo promptly at 11am. She was feeling quite jittery from the coffee she had had that morning to keep herself awake. She had needed to drink the coffee to keep herself from collapsing from exhaustion. But that was only because she had stayed up all night trying to think of what she would say to Harima today. Which is why she was so jittery... or was that the coffee?

Realizing that she was thinking in circles, Eri slapped her hand onto her forehead to snap herself out of it. She silently chided herself, 'Focus... Eri! This is an important day.'

Her mind swirled as she sat on a bench by the zoo entrance, waiting. Cheesy lines from all of the romantic manga that she had read fought on a battlefield in her head. In the end, they all managed to destroy each other in a rose-tinged blast of mutually assured destruction, leaving her grasping for bits of half-remembered confessions.

Eri cradled her face in her hands and said aloud, "This won't do at all..."

"What won't do, Ojou?"

Eri's head snapped up in time to see Harima come to a stop in front of where she was sitting. He was wearing a plain t-shirt and a pair of faded jeans with a large patch sown over a hole in the upper thigh area on the right leg. She glanced at her clock and saw that it was only 11:30.

"What are you doing here this early, Hige?"

Harima chuckled, "Heh.. I know how much you hate waiting, so I figured I'd leave a little early. Besides, I can't really work on my manuscript anymore until Imouto-san gets back. She said she had to run an errand for Takano-san today."

Eri sighed and looked at the stitch-work on jeans. She felt a bitter stab of jealously as she though to herself, 'There's no mistaking Yakumo's handiwork. Maybe I should buy him some new clothes.'

"Well, let's get going, Hig... Harima."

Eri stood up and took out the coupons that Takano gave her for the zoo. She lead Harima to the ticket counter and handed the coupons to the young cashier manning the desk. The young man looked over the coupons and then looked back to Eri. His eyes darted from Eri to Harima and before grinning and saying to Harima, "What? That other pretty girl you come here with wasn't enough for you? You got a new one now?"

Harima growled in reply, "It's like I told you before, Kasuga. Imouto-san is just a friend of mine, that's all."

"Man... I wish I had as many 'friends' as you have. Anyway, that'll be 100 yen for the both of you."

Harima stuck his hands in his pockets to dig around for the money, but Eri quickly payed the cashier before he could say anything. She smiled at the cashier while taking the tickets, thinking, 'What a rude jerk... But Harima said that Yakumo was only a friend! Looks like she hasn't gotten far at all.'

"Thanks, Ojou. I'm running a bit short this month anyway. Hopefully, once I finish this next manuscript, I'll be able to pay you back."

"Ah.. don't worry about it, Harima. I'll treat you, just this once."

Harima grinned at her and replied, "Then let me show you around a bit. I've got a lot of friends here, you know."

With that, Harima lead Eri to the lion pen, "Oh here's Lionel and Shiba. They've got a little cub with them, but..."

Eri tried to listen as Harima explained to her about the relationship between the lions in the zoo, but she couldn't concentrate for long on what he was saying. When she looked at him, her mind ran filled with half-complete declarations of love. If only she could sort out...

"Oi... Ojou... are you even listening to me? I'm trying to introduce you to my friends, here."

Eri blinked and snapped back to reality, saying, "Huh? Oh... you were just talking about these monkeys, right?"

"Right... Uncle Gabby here is a real ornery fellow. And..."

Eri screamed at herself in her own mind, 'Why? Why can't I say something? Maybe I should just kiss him...'

Eri stared at Harima started making faces at the monkeys while trying to talk to them. 'Maybe I could ask him how he feels...'

"Actually, Hige... there's something I wanted to ask you."

Harima continued to play with the monkeys while replying, "Oh, sure thing. What's on your mind?"

Eri looked down at her shoes, and asked "Do you uh... like..."

"Like what?" Harima asked absently while trying to give some food to the monkeys.

"M... m... monkeys?"

"Eh... I don't dislike them, or anything. I'm just fond of these guys cause we used to hang out."

Eri cursed herself silently and tried again, "So how do you feel about... um..."

Harima turned and looked at her over his sunglasses, "About what?"

Eri looked around frantically for something to say. Eventually, she looked down at his legs and blurted out, "Jeans."

Harima blinked, a confused look crossing his face. "I... like them I guess. Especially the ones I'm wearing today, they fit pretty comfortably. Imouto-san had to patch them up after I tore them fixing some things around the house, though."

Eri glared at Harima's jeans, as if trying to light them on fire with her mind. She said flatly, "I think they're ugly. You should throw them away, and let me buy you a new pair."

"Eh? I guess you could buy me some new ones if you want... but there's no need to throw away a perfectly good pair of jeans. Not everyone is as rich as you are, Ojou. I'm sure Imouto-san could keep this pair stitched together for at least another year," Harima said offhandedly as he started walking towards the giraffe pen.

Eri stopped and glared at Harima's back for a minute before hurrying to catch up to to him.

------------------

Osakabe Itoko looked at her watch and sighed. She had been listening to the inane chatter between her cousin Kenji and that blond girl, Eri, through the listening device that Akira had planted on Eri for over two hours now. She had initially had some hope that Eri would spit out a messy confession right at the beginning, but for the last hour, the two of them had just been arguing about the condition of the clothes that Kenji was wearing. 'Why did I let Akira talk me into doing this again?'

Her patience wearing thin, Itoko fished her phone out of her purse and sent Akira a text message, "E failed. Time for Y."

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A/N: I had a bit of writer's block on this chapter, so I wrote most of the scenes for this chapter out of order. So sorry if it ends up a bit disjointed. Also, sorry to any Hanai fans out there, since he's getting beat up twice in a row. But someone has to suffer for the sake of comedy...


	3. Misdirection and Clarity

Senior Year: A School Rumble Fanfic

Chapter 3: Misdirection and Clarity

By: yeahreally

Disclaimer: I do not own School Rumble. I'm just doodling in the margins.

The sun shown down on Tsukamoto Yakumo as she walked slowly towards the zoo. She had been accompanying her friend, Takano Akira, for the past few hours, helping her run some errands. She still wasn't exactly sure why Takano-sempai had needed her help since all of the errands had been trivial so far, but Yakumo had promised to help so she followed without complaint. She looked around and thought about the last time she had been here with Harima-sempai. He usually liked to visit the zoo every week, and she tried to join him whenever she could. Sometimes she liked to pretend that they were on a date together, but she knew Harima-sempai never thought of their trips like that. She was just glad to be able to spend some time with him that didn't involve working on his manga. Sighing softly to herself, Yakumo wondered again why Takano-sempai had wanted to go to the zoo just now.

"And here we are," Takano-sempai said as she stopped in front of the entrance. She held out her hand and presented a ticket to Yakumo, saying, "Tsukamoto-san, since you helped me so much today, I thought I would thank you by buying a ticket for you."

Yakumo blinked in surprise and took the ticket from Takano-sempai with some hesitancy. She said slowly, "Ahh... thank you, Takano-sempai..."

"Don't worry, Harima should be by the giraffe pen right about now. If you hurry, you should be able to meet him there," Takano-sempai continued with a hint of amusement in her voice.

Yakumo turned bright red and hesitantly took the ticket, mumbling, "I see... thank you very much."

"We'll part ways here, then. Thank you again for accompanying me today. I'll see you on Monday," Takano-sempai said, ignoring Yakumo discomfort. She gave Yakumo a brief nod before walking away.

"See you, Monday, Takano-sempai," Yakumo managed to say a moment. She watched her sempai leave while clutching the ticket to her chest. She wondered what Takano-sempai thought about her and Harima. She shook her head and decided it wasn't worth worrying over. Yakumo took a deep breath and entered the zoo to find Harima-sempai. Maybe today... Maybe today she would be able to work up the courage to tell him how she really felt. She knew he still hadn't gotten over her sister, Tenma, yet... But maybe if she let him know that she'd wait for him to settle his heart...

Yakumo chided herself for thinking like that. She knew she shouldn't push Harima-sempai into any hasty decisions. If she told him how she felt now, she just knew that he wouldn't be ready to accept her. Patience... Yakumo told herself. She knew she had to wait until he was truly over her sister. Maybe by then...

Trying to push all these thoughts firmly out of her head, Yakumo made her way towards the giraffe pen.

-----------------------

Sawachika Eri sighed in frustration at Harima standing next to her. Why did he have to be so stubborn about a stupid set of jeans anyway? Maybe she should have her butler break in and steal them... Eri jumped in surprise as someone placed a hand on her shoulder from behind.

"Ah... Sawachika-san, what a surprise to see you here with my cousin, Kenji" said the owner of the hand.

Eri turned and saw that her physics teacher, Osakabe Itoko, had been the one to startle her out of her thoughts. She blinked and asked in surprise, "Your cousin?"

Harima turned to them and said, "Yo, Itoko. What are you doing here?"

Itoko gave a small smirk and said, "I have some business with Sawachika-san here. You stay here with your giraffe friend, and let me have a word with her alone."

Harima shrugged and turned back to watching the giraffes, "Whatever."

Eri looked from Itoko to Harima and sighed. She turned back to Itoko and said, "Fine, what do you want?"

Itoko shook her head ruefully, "Is that any way to talk to one of your teachers? Let's walk over towards the monkey pen. There's something I need to ask you in private."

Eri walked with Itoko over to the monkey exhibit. Looking back, she could still see Harima from where she was, but they were far enough away to make sure that he couldn't hear what they were saying. Eri turned away from where Harima was standing and faced Itoko, saying, "Alright, Osakabe-sensei. What did you want to talk to me about?"

Itoko made a small grimace before saying, "Well, I heard that you were going to confess your feelings to Harima today and wanted to make sure you had thought it through before you actually do it. My cousin can be pretty worthless some days, so you should think carefully before you commit yourself to him."

Eri's jaw dropped to the floor, and she stood there staring at Itoko while turning a bright shade of red.

Itoko cocked her head to one side and asked, "Oh? Am I mistaken? Did you not intend to confess your feelings to him?"

"Well... I... he... we..." Eri stammered but couldn't come up with a reply. Her brain seemed to have shutdown and nothing she thought to say made any sense.

Itoko looked past Eri's shoulder and said blandly, "Ahh... I guess I must have been mistaken. I guess Tsukamoto-san was the one who was coming here to confess to Kenji. It looks like I'm too late to stop her."

Eri whirled around to look back at Harima. Somehow, while she had been talking with Itoko, that... tramp Yakumo had managed to sneak in and was talking with Harima. As Eri watched, Yakumo looked down and blushed as she was saying something to Harima who only stood there nodding at her. He then patted Yakumo on the shoulder and smiled down at her.

"Well it looks like things went well for Tsukamoto-san. I guess there's no point in staying here anymore. Sorry to waste your time," Itoko said casually to Eri before turning and walking slowly away.

Eri barely noticed Itoko leave as she was focused on watching Harima and Yakumo. She started to walk quickly towards the two of them.

-----------------------

Harima watched his giraffe, Pyotr, eat the fruit that Harima had managed to smuggle in for him with a small grin. He was convinced that they didn't feed his animals enough healthy food here, so he made it a point to bring as many snacks as he could afford whenever he came.

"Harima-sempai... How's Pyotr doing today?"

Harima looked up to see Yakumo walk over to stand next to him at the fence in front of the giraffe pen. She smiled gently at him as she waited for his response.

"Pyotr's doing fine. He's a little hungry, so I gave him some extra apples," Harima replied with a smile. Yakumo always seemed curious about his ability to communicate with animals, although Harima didn't really understand why. Trying to change the topic, he asked, "So what're you up to today, Imouto-san?"

"Ah... I just wanted to... umm..." Yakumo mumbled a reply and blushed lightly. She looked down at her shoes and stammered, "Takano-sempai gave me a ticket to the zoo for helping her with some errands today."

Harima nodded sagely, "It's important to help your friends."

Yakumo then said to him, "Oh, Harima-sempai, I wanted to thank you for delivering my message to Hanai-sempai."

Harima grinned at her and patted Yakumo on the shoulder with his right hand, saying, "Don't worry about it, Imouto-san!"

"It's hard for me to express my feelings..." Yakumo began to say.

"I understand what you mean, Imouto-san," Harima continued to pat Yakumo on the shoulder and smiled at her. Yakumo just blushed more deeply and continued to stare at her shoes. Harima added, "Thank you for trusting me enough to tell me how you feel."

-----------------------

Takano Akira watched Harima and Yakumo's conversation through her binoculars from a perch atop a nearby building. The sound from the radio transmitter that she had planted earlier had more static than she would have liked, so she made a mental note to re-check the transmission device and microphone after this mission. She saw Eri run up to Harima and Yakumo just as she had expected. She watched with a small smile as she heard the conversation that followed.

-----------------------

Eri ran up to Harima and Yakumo just in time to here him say, "Thank you for trusting me enough to tell me how you feel."

Eri's stopped in front of them and yelled, "Wait just a minute!"

Harima turned his head to look at Eri and asked, "What is it, Ojou?"

Eri pointed at Harima's hand still resting on Yakumo's shoulder and demanded, "Take your hand off of Yakumo!"

Harima looked confused as he glanced from Eri to Yakumo and back. He took his hand off of Yakumo's shoulder and turned to face Eri again, "What's gotten into you?"

Yakumo looked at Eri in confusion, too, and said softly, "I don't mind if Harima-sempai..."

"I know you wouldn't mind anything Hige did to you! But I mind! He's my fiance!" Eri replied angrily.

Harima frowned at Eri and tried to step in between her and Yakumo, "There's no need to yell at her, Ojou."

Eri grabbed Harima's hand and said, "Get away from her, Hige! You're supposed to be spending today with me, and there's something I have to tell you!"

Harima sighed as Eri dragged him a few steps away from Yakumo, "What is it, Ojou? I'm not going any further until you tell me."

Eri glared fiercely at Yakumo for a moment before turning her intense gaze on Harima. She said firmly, "Fine. She may have beaten me to the punch, but I won't lose to her that easily. Harima... I... I want you to be my boyfriend."

Harima blinked and asked, "Eh? But I'm already pretending to be your fiance... wouldn't pretending to be your boyfriend be a step backward?"

Eri clenched her fists in frustration, "No! Not pretend... I mean... I want you to be my boyfriend for real..."

"Eh!?" Harima yelled in surprise and took a step back, "Ojou... what are you saying?"

Eri kept a firm grip on his hand, preventing him from moving back too far. She snapped at Harima in frustration, "You heard me! Do you want to hear me beg? Is that it!?"

Yakumo walked quickly up to them and said, "Sawachika-sempai, stop it. Please..."

Eri yelled at her angrily, "Oh you'd like that, wouldn't you? I know the way you've looked at him. You just want him for yourself! But he's mine!"

Harima looked from Eri to Yakumo with surprise painted clearly on his face, "Ojou... Imouto-san... what are you saying?"

Eri go of Harima's hand and crossed her arms over her chest, saying, "I'm saying that you're going to have to decide now which one of us gets to be your girlfriend."

Yakumo started to say, "I don't think..."

Eri cut her off, "No excuses! Harima has to make a decision. This wouldn't have happened if you hadn't decided to confess to him today during our date."

"Umm... actually I hadn't managed to tell Harima-sempai, yet..."

Eri looked stunned for a moment before putting her hand to her head as if she had a headache. Eventually, she said, "Fine... then confess to him now, since he's probably figured it out anyway."

Eri looked over at Harima who was staring at the two girls in front of him like he had never seen either of them before. She said to him, "I'll give you one week to decide whether it will be her or me. This coming Saturday, I need you to go to a dinner party as my fiance. Be sure to get a suit by then. You can tell us your decision the day after." Eri then looked over at Yakumo and grimaced, "Be sure to make your feelings clear to him. If you don't, I won't show you any mercy."

With that, Eri turned around and walked away. She didn't feel like staying around to hear Yakumo struggle to tell Harima how she felt.

-----------------------

Harima watched Eri walk away in a state of shock. 'This can't be right,' he thought, 'There's no way that both Ojou and Imouto-san...'

Yakumo had turned completely red as she gazed at him. She said softly, "I didn't mean for you to find out like this..."

"And how did you want me to find out?" Harima asked stupidly. His mind was in free-fall. He words barely registering in his mind before they escaped his lips.

Yakumo looked at him sadly, "I know... I know you loved my sister. I had wanted to wait to tell you... maybe once you'd gotten over her... maybe by then there would be room in your heart for me."

Harima sighed. He gazed down at Yakumo's sorrowful expression and said, "I see. So you and I... we were both chasing people who were in love with someone else."

Yakumo nodded sadly, "I've known who was in your heart for a long time. I thought at first that you and my sister could be happy together..."

"But now that she's gone, you want me to be more than just your friend," Harima couldn't keep the accusation out of his voice.

Yakumo shook her head, "I wanted you to be happy. I thought I could make you happy... We're still friends, right?"

Harima grunted and replied, "I guess."

Yakumo shook her head again, "Please, Harima-sempai. Let's just go home."

"Alright, Imouto-san," Harima said. He started walking towards the entrance of the zoo, and Yakumo fell in beside him. His mind raced thinking back to everything that had happened in the past year. He wondered if Yakumo and Eri had tried to do the same crazy things for him that he had tried to do for Tenma. He wondered if he had hurt them as much as Tenma had hurt him. After a few minutes of silence, he glanced over at her, "So are you planning on trying to win my heart before next week, too?"

"Would... Would that be so bad?" Yakumo asked shyly.

Harima shook his head and smiled in grim amusement, "Heh... I guess I could have worse problems than two pretty girls fighting over me. I don't know if I'm the kind of man that can make you happy, though. Are you sure this is what you want to do, Imouto-san?"

Yakumo nodded, "I have to try."

Harima shrugged, "If you want to, I guess that's fine. So what are you going to do now?"

"Maybe we could go home, and I could make you a nice dinner," Yakumo suggested hesitantly.

Harima nodded, "That'll be fine. I'm starving, anyway."

"What would you like me to make for you, Harima-sempai?"

"Whatever you think best, Imouto-san. Just not curry," Harima replied. He couldn't eat curry without thinking of Karasuma. And thinking of Karasuma always led to thinking of Tenma... Harima shook his head to try to clear his thoughts. His eyes wandered over to look at Yakumo walking quietly next to him. He wasn't sure what he would do now. He wasn't sure if he was ready for this. But he it looked like he didn't have a choice. He idly wondered if he could manage to sneak out of town before anyone else noticed. He walked with Yakumo back to her house in brooding silence.

-----------------------

Takano Akira packed up her equipment and prepared to go home. She looked up as her teacher, Osakabe Itoko, walked up to her.

Osakabe-sensei said, "That went better than I expected."

Akira nodded and replied, "Now Harima knows how both of them feel. He'll have to make a choice soon."

"Do you really think it'll be that easy?" Osakake-sensei asked cynically.

Akira shrugged and continued to pack up her surveillance equipment. Eventually she said, "I expect it to be a messy and painful. I also expect at least one of them to be heart-broken after this. Maybe all three. But I still think it's better to do it now instead of letting the resentment build between Yakumo and Eri."

"Are you going to interfere further?"

Akira shook her head, "Not unless he tries to run away. I'll probably monitor their progress, though."

Osakabe-sensei shook her head and said, "Do what you want. Just try not to meddle too much in other people's lives. Oh... and remember you owe me some free surveillance work now."

Akira nodded, "Roger. See you Monday, sensei."

-----------------------

A/N: There's not as much comedy in this chapter as I'd like, but that trend will probably continue. I'm not sure if there's a way to resolve this without a lot of angst.


End file.
